CLAT 2026

CLAT 2026: An Overview

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is one of the most popular exams for a legal aspirant. The entrance exam marks the official entry of an aspirant into the legal world. 

The Consortium of National Law Universities is the conducting body of this exam. It takes care of all the important exam details-from exam dates, exam center, structure to syllabus, eligibility, & more.

It is a significant event on the legal education calendar, attracting roughly 45,000 law students who aspire to pursue law after class XII.

Although CLAT is conducted for both UG and PG students, on this page, we'd only be focussing on UG-CLAT 2026.

What is the CLAT Exam?

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national-level entrance test for admission to undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) law studies at India's 24 National Law Universities.

CLAT is conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities, which includes the representative universities. Several affiliated institutions and companies utilize the CLAT test for admissions and recruitment

All admissions to the 5-year integrated LL.B. and 2-year LL.M. programs beginning in the Academic Year 2026-2027 shall be through the CLAT 2026.

Keep checking the table below to stay updated on the important exam dates.

CLAT 2026 Exam Dates

Based on the previous year's revised deadlines for the exam announced by the consortium, here are the important dates the candidate should keep a note of.

CLAT 2026 Exam Pattern

Let’s take a look at the five sections that comprise CLAT. These sections test one's aptitude and reasoning abilities, and hence, require months of preparation and practice. 

Every question carries 1 mark, and 0.25 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer.

Although the question distribution varies in the CLAT exam every year, the percentage of each section broadly remains the same as per the general CLAT exam pattern.

In CLAT 2024, the question distribution was as follows, basis which we have tried to provide a  Below is a table that has the distribution of questions across sections in CLAT 2024:

CLAT 2024 Exam Pattern

CLAT 2026 Eligibility Criteria

With the CLAT notification, the Consortium also releases CLAT Eligibility Criteria that feature any changes or updates in the Eligibility Criteria.

As the CLAT Notification is not out for CLAT 2026; the criteria for CLAT 2025 are mentioned below. Generally, there is no fundamental difference in it.

Educational Qualification

Any applicant who has passed the 10+2 or an equivalent examination can apply for the CLAT exam. The minimum marks required for different categories are listed below:

• 45% marks for General/ Other Backward Class (OBC)/ Specially abled person categories
• 40% marks for Scheduled Class (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories

Note: Candidates who will pass the Class 12 examination in March/April 2026 are also eligible for the test.

Upon admission, these candidates must provide proof that they passed their Class 12 exam. Candidates who fail to fulfill this will be rejected and lose their right to admission.

Age Limit

CLAT doesn’t have an age limit. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria you can give the exam.

CLAT 2026 Application Process

The CLAT exam application process will likely begin in July 2025 and end in the last week of October 2025.

Candidates seeking admission to undergraduate law courses offered by the participating NLUs can fill out the application form for the exam on the official Consortium website.

The steps to apply are as follows:

• Candidates must first register on the CLAT website using their personal mobile number and email address.
• An OTP will be given to the registered mobile number for validation after registration.
• Once the mobile number has been verified, applicants can log in with the registered mobile number and the password they gave during registration.
• Once logged in you can fill out the form, pay the fees, and upload the relevant documents.

Note: Once an application has been submitted and paid for, the candidate will be unable to modify the program, category, or BPL field. Any change/alteration found in the name entered may disqualify the candidature.

Documents Required for Registration

Given below is a list of documents that a student will need while applying for the CLAT exam.

Application Fees

The application fee for the CLAT exam is included in the CLAT Official Notification-which is released in July. As per the CLAT 2025 Notification, we have added the amounts in the table below.

CLAT 2026 Exam Syllabus

The test is conducted in offline mode where the paper has 120 questions from five different sections. Below is a summary of the section-wise weightage of the 5 sections in the CLAT 2026 exam syllabus.

Aspirants are advised to go through the CLAT syllabus in detail and download the CLAT 2026 Syllabus PDF to refer to in the future.

CLAT 2026 Preparation

As per our specialists and mentors; we have broadly categorized the preparation strategy for CLAT 2026 below:

• Make a monthly and weekly schedule and have the syllabus ready for your studies.
• Ensure that all subjects and ideas are covered on time and reviewed at regular intervals.
• Write mock tests and practice tests regularly, then analyze the results to identify and improve weak areas.
• Make no assumptions when answering questions in the actual exam, as each incorrect response will cost you 0.25 marks.

#1 Knowing the marking scheme inside out

You must understand the marking structure. You should know which section is your strongest in terms of conceptual clarity so you can score better to pass the exam.

#2 Understanding the exam and building strong conceptual skills

A good conceptual grasp is required for an exam as difficult as CLAT. Brush up on your fundamentals and review key ideas regularly to ensure you have a firm grasp of the concepts tested.

#3 Analyze and practice

Once the principles are clear, it is critical to write the practice exam on the same day to reinforce the notion. It will improve your conceptual knowledge and assist you in identifying your weak points.

CLAT 2026 Books for Preparation

There are multiple books available in the market for CLAT preparation. However, a serious CLAT aspirant should only invest his or her time in CLAT preparation books that have benefitted previous CLAT toppers.

CLAT 2026 Books for the English Language Section

• Objective General English 2023 by SP Bakshi
• Objective General English 2024 by RS Aggarwal
• The Pearson Guide to the CLAT by Pearson's
• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
• CLAT Guide by Tata McGraw-Hill

CLAT 2026 Books for the Quantitative Techniques Section

• Fast Track Objective Arithmetic by Arihant Publications 
• 30 Days Wonder for Maths by S Chand
• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Pearson's
• Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal

CLAT 2026 Books for the Logical Reasoning Section

• A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning by RS Aggarwal
• Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal
• Analytical Reasoning (English) by MK Pandey
• A New Approach to Verbal and Analytical Reasoning by Arihant

CLAT 2026 Books for the Legal Reasoning Section

• Legal Awareness and Legal Reasoning by Pearson
• Legal Aptitude and Legal Reasoning by AP Bhardwaj
• Objective Legal Aptitude by RS Aggarwal 

CLAT 2026 Books for the Current Awareness including General Knowledge Section 

• General Knowledge 2023, 2022, and 2021 by Arihant Publications
• Current Affairs Yearly by Arihant Publications
• Manorama Year Book by Manorama Publications
• General Knowledge 2022-2023 by Lucent’s
• General Knowledge 2021-2022 by Tarun Goyal

CLAT 2026 Exam Centers

The CLAT exam centers are situated in various cities across India. Candidates can select their exam center when completing the CLAT Application Form. Once assigned, the exam center cannot be altered. Candidates should carefully select their desired exam center and ensure that they can get there easily on the day of the exam.

While filling out the form, you will be able to select 3 Center locations of your preference.

Here is a list of cities where the Exam Centres are located.

CLAT 2026 Admit Card

The CLAT Admit Card will be released by the consortium of NLUs at least 15 days before the exam date, which is expected to be in the final week of November 2025. The admit card once out, can be downloaded from the official website - consortiumofnlus.ac.in

Possessing an admit card is mandatory for appearing in CLAT. The admit card contains information such as the candidate's roll number, the name and address of the exam center, exam times, and instructions.

Steps to download CLAT Admit Card 2026 once it’s out

Step 1: Go to the exam's official website, https://consortiumofnlus.ac.in

Step 2: Select CLAT exam 2026 and log in by providing your registered mobile number and password.

Step 3: Once logged in, on the top right of the screen, click the Download Admit Card link.

Step 4: Save the admission card PDF file to your device.

Step 5: Print at least two-to-three copies of the admission card on A4 paper for future reference.

CLAT 2026 Reservation Policy

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) offers about 3400 seats for the 5-year LLB program. These seats are distributed based on reservations for several groups, including OBC, SC, ST, PWD, KM (Kashmiri Migrants), Armed Forces, and others.

During the CLAT 2024 seat allocation procedure, the reservation criteria established by each NLU are critical. Each university has its reservation policy, which differs depending on the institution. Candidates should check the individual NLU's website to know their reservations for different castes.

CLAT 2026 Expected Cut-off

The CLAT exam cut-off is the minimum marks and rankings required for admittance to NLUs. After the counseling rounds, each NLU releases the cut-off in the form of opening and closing rankings. The table below shows the basic expected cut-off based on expert analysis of previous years.

It should be noted that the cut-off differs per college and across all student categories.

CLAT 2026 Result

The Consortium of National Law Universities (NLUs) will likely release CLAT results in December 2025 or January 2026. The results will be available on the consortium website. Candidates may get the CLAT result PDF by entering it into their registered account.

The scorecard includes the total marks received in the exam, the overall rank attained in CLAT, the category, and other information. Candidates will be invited to the counseling procedure based on their scores. Counseling is the final stage of admission to National Law Universities (NLUs).

Key Takeaways

Here are some of the important points and key takeaways to know for CLAT 2026.

• CLAT 2026 will likely be held in the first week of December 2025.
• The syllabus consists of five different sections and will have 120 questions instead of 150 this year.
• Have a well-structured study plan.
• Concentrate on the fundamentals and fully cover all test subjects.
• Practice mock tests and previous year's papers to become acquainted with the exam format.
• Seek mentorship, attend coaching institutions, or seek online courses for more assistance.
• Stay motivated, keep a good attitude, and have faith in your talents.

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